Two Hasidic Dynasties Become One — In Times Square Of All Places

Image by Getty Images

By Laura E. Adkins May 16, 2017

Most native New Yorkers go to extreme lengths to avoid Times Square, but for one young Hasidic couple this weekend, the iconic tourist trap became the site of a dream come true.

Both the bride and groom hail from prominent rabbinic dynasties — Hadassa Halperin of Toronto is a 20-year-old relative of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The 23 year old groom, J.J. Hecht of Crown Heights, is a member of a prominent rabbinic family. His father, Rabbi Shea Hecht, officiated the wedding.

“Even if I had all the money in the world, the best gift I could give my mother would be to get married,” J.J. Hecht told the New York Post. Officiating a ceremony in Times Square had long been an aspiration of Shea’s, his mother Baila Hecht added.

Baila, for one, was delighted to spend her Mother’s Day at her 10th child’s wedding: “You get more enthusiastic every [wedding] because you’re more relaxed about it,” the 62-year-old explained. “You don’t worry about every detail, every flower. It doesn’t matter so much anymore.”

Laura E. Adkins is the Forward’s contributing network editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @Laura_E_Adkins.

Laura E. Adkins is a senior director at Jewish Women International and the former opinion editor of the Forward. Email her or follow her on X.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO